MARQUETTE, MI-- The state House passed a bill last week that would add a circuit court judge to Marquette County.
The State Court Administrative Office recommended the elimination of a judgeship in 2012. It was vacated through attrition in 2017. Bill sponsor, Representative Sara Cambensy, says Marquette County deals with a quarter of the U.P.’s court cases, which is too much for one judge to handle. She adds veterans make up about 10 percent of the county’s population and many are finding themselves in the court system. That could lead to the creation of a specialty court.
“Some of the cases we see go through our courts tend to be our veterans and tend to need kind of a multi-prong approach to helping them get through those issues and certainly deal with some drug and alcohol abuse issues.”
If the Senate passes the bill and the governor signs it, a new judge could be appointed this fall.